Missouri hospitals treated a record number of COVID-19 patients this week
Hospitalizations for COVID-19 hit a record high this week in Missouri as the spread of the virus continues, particularly in rural areas.
The state recorded 1,352 hospitalizations on Wednesday, according to available data from the state.
Areas including the northwest, southeast, central, southwest and Kansas City regions saw a record number of patients.
Steve Edwards, CEO of CoxHealth in Springfield, tweeted on Thursday that the hospital had 91 COVID-19 patients, which he called “a high water mark.”
On Friday, the hospital was treating 86 patients, 14 of whom were in the intensive care unit, said Amanda Hedgpeth, assistant incident commander at CoxHealth.
Twenty-three of the patients were residents of Greene County, where Springfield is located. The other 63 came from outlying counties.
Cases are attributed to greater spread in rural areas, misconceptions about the virus and the return of college students to campuses.
“Some of the areas in our community maybe do not have any kind of masking ordinance,” Hedgpeth added.
As students returned to the area in late August, the positive test rate increased. The hospitalization rate, which lags behind case increases, are now being seen.
Three temporary respiratory urgent care buildings are being constructed on the hospital’s campus to create overflow capacity.
“We are prepared to triage a high volume of respiratory virus patients as we expect the complicated convergence of flu, respiratory and COVID this fall,” Edwards posted.
In Kansas City, there were 316 COVID-19 hospitalizations on Wednesday, according to Missouri state data. Statewide, the seven-day average for hospitalizations surpassed 1,000 on Sept. 17 and currently stands at 1,224.
The number of COVID-19 patients at the University of Kansas Health System, where numbers earlier in the pandemic dropped into the teens, was in the 30s earlier this week.
COVID-19 hospitalizations are up at several area hospitals, according to Steve Stites, chief medical officer at the health system.
“It is a concern,” he said during a briefing Wednesday. “I don’t think we’re in danger on hospital beds, but this is a higher number and we’re entering in that time of the year where people are sicker in general and hospital census tends to rise.”
By Friday, the number had dropped to 22. HaysMed reported 23 patients, the first time it has had more than the hospital in Kansas City, Kansas.
This story was originally published October 9, 2020 at 12:36 PM.
